Mr. Las Vegas Becomes Mr. Los Angeles for a Night
Before Elvis Presley ever sang a word on stage, Newton had already performed before President Harry S. Truman, toured with a Grand Ole Opry road show and released his first record.
As music has evolved over the last forty years and the industry has catered to new trends and genres, Newton has held his ground in a business that is, at best, capricious and rather unstable.
Los Angeles will soon have a chance to witness the mystique and charisma that Newton offers when he steps foot in Key Club at Morongo on Sept. 23.
The half-Native American singer has performed live for more than 30 million people while making countless television appearances and studio recordings throughout his 44-year career.
A symbol of the talent, glamour and energy that is Las Vegas, Newton long ago earned the name “Mr. Las Vegas.”
In 1994, he had already performed his 25,000th show in the entertainment capital of the world.
Voted the “Native American Entertainer of the Year,” Newton has received praise from across the board, earning the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the First American’s in the Arts in February 2000 and being inducted into the American Gaming Association’s “Gaming Hall of Fame” nine months later.
And until 2001, the singer and entertainer performed in the same showroom at Las Vegas’ Stardust resort for 40 weeks out of the year.
Now after recording and releasing 158 albums, Newton has only gained more attention.
“I’m still doing the kind of shows I’ve always done.” he said. “And I can tell you one thing; People may leave one of my shows disliking Wayne Newton, but they’ve never walked out saying, ‘He didn’t work hard for us’ or ‘He didn’t give us our money’s worth.'”
And that’s why Newton’s primary objective has always been to bring enjoyment into the lives of his fans for an evening.
“I know what it means to save your money to go see someone perform, and I’ll work as hard as I have to, to try and make sure they enjoy it,” he said.
Whatever he’s been doing, it’s worked.
On the whole, reviews have remained quite positive and complementary of Newton’s act. In fact, many critics continue to rave about Newton’s onstage presence and the overall production that he puts forth.
Spin Magazine editor Jim Greer explained, “His show is the standard by which I will henceforth judge each future concert of any genre. I’m not talking about camp, or kitsch…I’m talking about full-blooded American entertainment.”
From a young age, Newton lived and breathed music.
Born in Roanoke, Va., Newton had his parents take him to see a Grand Ole Opry road show with Hank Williams and Kitty Wells when he was just four years old.
From that day forward, Newton knew what he wanted to do for a living.
Two years later, he began learning piano, guitar and steel guitar with the help of only a few lessons.
“I kept learning to play new instruments simply to give my voice some relief,” he said.
A multi-instrumentalist today, Newton plays 13 different instruments with many of them worked into his shows.
By September 1962, Newton was gaining nationwide recognition as a musical phenomenon after he performed with his brother for “The Jackie Gleason Show” in one of his 12 appearances on the show over the following two years.
Fast forward to January 2005, and Newton now has a career in television after creating his own reality show on E! called “The Entertainer,” which featured ten contestants all vying for a chance to perform with the voice of Las Vegas.
“I enjoy acting immensely,” Newton said of his second career. “I think it’s because I’ve spent my whole life being Wayne Newton, the singer. This way I can get all my hostilities out and I don’t go to jail for it.”
But Newton doesn’t seem to be giving up his music career any time soon either.
After five decades of singing and writing music, he continues to sell out venues with an established, enthusiast fan base in all corners of the world.
